


When Trust Just Isn't Enough

by FaerieMayden



Category: Undertale (Video Game)
Genre: Anxiety Attacks, BDSM, Fontcest, M/M, Panic Attacks, Past Abuse, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Sexual Abuse, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-09-12
Updated: 2016-09-12
Packaged: 2018-08-14 14:42:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8018026
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FaerieMayden/pseuds/FaerieMayden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Red didn't have a very healthy relationship with his little brother in the past.</p><p>He was trying, really, as Papyrus gently tied the blindfold around his skull, mumbling words of comfort to him. He was trying so hard. To overcome his fear, and make his lover happy. The safeword rattled around in his head, hand-in-hand with ghosts of his past, grabbing at his arms, pinning him to the floor...</p><p>This wasn't him. This wasn't the same Papyrus. But how can you act calm when they share the same face?</p><p>"Papyrus, I can't," Red finally whimpered. "I'm sorry. Just...game over. Game over."</p><p>Faster than the short skeleton could have blinked, the blindfold was removed from his eyes, and arms were wrapped around him. Gentle, firm and grounding, but not tight and suffocating. Papyrus always gave the best hugs.</p><p>"Shh, Red, it's alright. I understand."</p><p>He loved Papyrus. Really, he did. But he couldn't. Not yet. No matter how much trust he had for the big goof.</p>
            </blockquote>





	When Trust Just Isn't Enough

**Author's Note:**

> Oh look! No sin!
> 
> So this is sort of an interlude for Corrupt Me, I guess, since I'm not feeling like writing anything crazy long right now. Sorry for the wait, guys, I know that I left off the last fic on a tense note! Unfortunately I'm being slaughtered by all of my math classes and I've been a bit too depressed to sit down and write for as long as I need to. :>
> 
> Lemme know if I should bump up the age rating. It's kinda in a gray zone this time around.
> 
> Hopefully this will suffice for now!

"Okay, Red. Now give me your other hand."

They had been at this for awhile now. Fourty-five minutes and thirty-two seconds, to be exact. Papyrus had come to Red earlier in the day asking if they could try something new. He had been really nervous about asking, knowing of Red's past, but the shorter skeleton had nudged him and insisted that it would be fine. So here they were, now, as Papyrus gently but firmly tied Red's wrists to the headboard of his bed.

Red didn't have a very healthy relationship with his little brother in the past. It had been a terrible thing, something that the skeleton had been conditioned to be used to in all of those years spent in Underfell. He was abused in every way the mind could think of, and then some. Dehumanization (or demonsterization, he supposed, hehe), neglect of feeding or healthy and consistent grooming, sexual assault, physical abuse, as well as emotional and psychological. Anything and everything in the book, Sans had been put through. Had to deal with for five years. Five whole years, undergoing that sort of treatment from his younger brother.

Red doesn't really know when the relationship had changed. Sometime when Edge was around nineteen years old, and had joined the Royal Guard for capturing a Human. A light blue SOUL, Red recalled vaguely, as he felt his lover press gentle skeleton kisses to his cheek bones and neck, massaging his clavicle and causing him to tilt his head back, allowing the other skeleton access to the more vulnerable parts of his body. Edge (at the time called Papyrus, as they had not been involved with the Multiverse then) had quickly climbed through the ranks, from sentry to grunt, then to officer, assistant deputy, and finally leader. Papyrus had had a duel with Undyne the Undying, arguably one of the strongest Monsters in the Underground, known all around for her ruthlessness and seemingly endless DETERMINATION. Red had freaked out when he saw his brother come home, deep gash covering his left eye and still bleeding. But the taller skeleton had proclaimed how he had taken her eye out in the process, as well, and how Red was to no longer address him as Papyrus, but rather, as Boss, and was to treat him with unconditional respect. That, Red thought, was when he had changed. But that was not when it had been the worst.

Red blinked away the thoughts as they grew progressively darker, particularly unpleasant memories cropping up and causing his mood to falter. It would be a couple of years later before Edge was at his worst, and that was when the...unmentionable things begun happening.

He felt a hand trailing down his sternum, sliding under his ribs and then pressing down onto one of the discs of his spine. He huffed out a moan as the hand trailed down lower, reaching just above the pelvis before stopping and retreating. Red whined in frustration, jerking in his restraints but Papyrus only pressed a phalange to his teeth and hissed out a soft, "shh..." So Red stopped his whimpering, and ceased his weak struggling, uncharacteristically white pupils trained on his partner and what the other was doing. He tried to not think too hard on his restrained hands; he knew that if he wanted to, he would be untied faster than he could crook a phalange. Papyrus had proven it to him on multiple occasions. But this was the first time they were using any..."toys" to physically restrain him, before it having been just hands and Papyrus' body weight. And on more than one occasion, he had been allowed to top.

Papyrus' phalanges very gently trailed along his bare humerus, the light touch causing Red to shiver. He followed the other's movements, attention going back to the other's face once more when he saw his mouth part slightly, letting out a soft and appreciative breath before speaking.

"Can I try something, Red?"

Red froze for a moment. He was still trying to fight being overwhelmed by the fact that his hands couldn't move, and now Papyrus wanted to add on more. But the look of love, not LOVE in the other skeleton's sockets...Red couldn't say no to that beautiful face. No sharp teeth, no narrowed sockets, no scar...just bagged, lazy eyes like his, with an equally content expression full of affection for the Monster underneath him.

"Sure," he found himself saying, even though he really didn't want to. He just wanted Papyrus to be happy. And in the moment, the way the other skeleton's eye sockets lit up at his allowance of whatever it was he wanted to do was completely, and utterly worth it.

Papyrus leaned away from Red for a moment to reach over and under the bed, groping blindly for something he couldn't see at this angle. Finally it seemed that Papyrus had found it, as he shifted his position to where he was straddling Red once more. He revealed a thin strip of red cloth, holding it in front of Red for the skeleton to see. He had a feeling what it was for, and felt his non-existant stomach churn in discomfort. But as Papyrus gave him a reassuring look and pressed a kiss to his forehead before leaning back and beginning to put it on, he couldn't say no. Not yet.

He was trying, really, as Papyrus gently tied the blindfold around his skull, mumbling words of comfort to him. He was trying so hard. To overcome his fear, and make his lover happy. The safeword rattled around in his head, hand-in-hand with ghosts of his past, grabbing at his arms, pinning him to the floor...

This wasn't him. This wasn't the same Papyrus. But how can you act calm when they share the same face?

Red begun to shiver from where he lay on the bed, fingers curling in their restraint over his head. Tears beaded in the corners of his eyes, staining the already red strip of cloth over his eyes a darker, more maroon shade. His teeth grit, and he knew that his partner knew. Red really wished that he could be stronger, stop being a wimp so that Papyrus could just enjoy himself and not be let down by Red's shitty limits. He knew that this Papyrus wouldn't hurt him, he knew that the other wouldn't, but when he felt hands on him, gaze blackened and arms restrained, he was no longer in the comfort of their shared bedroom. No. He was back in the past, with a skeleton that had hands the same size, pinning him down and hurting him whenever he shrieked with agony...

"Papyrus, I can't," Red finally whimpered. "I'm sorry. Just...game over. Game over."

Faster than the short skeleton could have blinked, the blindfold was removed from his eyes, and arms were wrapped around him. Gentle, firm and grounding, but not tight and suffocating. Papyrus always gave the best hugs.

"Shh, Red, it's alright. I understand."

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I'm sorry," Red sobbed, beginning to hyperventilate now. "I can do better, I promise, just, not this...not this..." His emotions were escalating quickly. He felt the other's magic not just remove what was binding his arms to the bed, but rip them entirely in half, and his arms immediately shot forward like a viper that had been poised to strike, wrapping around Papyrus' bare neck and holding onto him like a lifeline. Papyrus sat back, dragging Red gently with him, and held the smaller in his lap, mumbling words of comfort into the space where his ear would be.

"Shh, Red, it's okay. You're okay. I understand. You're not ready. You don't have to ever be ready. I'm here, you're here...can you tell me where we are? How long you've been here in this universe with me?"

They were grounding exercises. Red knew that. But in his terrified mind, it was hard to remember. He struggled with himself, frustrated that he couldn't seem to get his own body to do what he wanted it to. He may not be able to control the world around him, but dammit, he should be able to control himself and his own actions.

"W-we're in y-your bedroom...I've been here...e-eight m-months...t-three weeks...two d-days..." And Red begun repeating the date over and over again, like a mantra, all while Papyrus gently rocked him. The room was illuminated by their two SOULs, Red's bright and erratic with tension and fear, and Papyrus' warm and comforting, attempting to assist in calming the other down. And slowly but surely, it works, until Red's desperate mumblings are nothing more than shaky breaths. Papyrus' rocking stills, and his head is pressed into the crook of Red's neck.

"Thank you, Papyrus," Red breathed, readjusting his grip on the taller skeleton. Said latter skeleton smiled, leaning back and pressing a chaste kiss on Red's cheek, before proceeding to pepper them about, kissing any remaining tears and their tracks away. Red smiled, and then chuckled softly, a rasp on the edge of his voice.

"It was nothing, Red. I love you."

"I love you, too."

He loved Papyrus. Really, he did. But he couldn't. Not yet. No matter how much trust he had for the big goof.

**Author's Note:**

> So, uh, this is how I write when its not based off of roleplay, heh. Hope its not too crummy. :>


End file.
